Cabin Fever
by onyx-dreams
Summary: Vala's sick on her first Earth bound Christmas, but Daniel's not about to let her spend it by herself in the medical ward.
1. Chapter 1

Cabin Fever

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Onyx-dreams

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I does not own SG-1 or any affiliated characters.

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Daniel felt bad for Vala. It was to be her first Tau'ri Christmas on Earth and the woman had caught a strange cold off world that had rendered her quarantined on base. She had been real excited too because Jack had invited the gang out to his house for a Christmas get together.

And Teal'c hadn't helped by giving his rather overly pragmatic observations of what the holiday was all about. Gone was the history and religious story of the birth of Christ (Daniel hated this. It wasn't a Christian holiday at all. Just one that it had absorbed in its crusade to wipe out the existence of any other religion by assimilating it and its beliefs.) and in was the holiday expenditures and parties and gifts.

Oh yes…Daniel had been horrified when he'd heard Teal'c describe Christmas to the space pirate. He saw the cogs work away in her brain as she schemed anew on how to make him the poorest man in the world, poorer than after he had published his career suicide on how the pyramids were alien landing platforms. Poorer than he had been in college eating cup ramen every other day and praying for free food from parties.

But even with his stable financial future in jeopardy, poor Vala didn't deserve to be locked in the medical wing on base. And because he felt so bad watching her talk to Sam about how she wouldn't be able to make it, he made a decision. He called Jack immediately on his cell.

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"To what do I owe the phone call? Are you almost at the cabin?"

"Ahhh…no. See, I called for two things. One, I won't be joining you out the cab-"

"Oh for Christsakes. Are you seriously going to do your nerd work on Christmas and Christmas Eve?"

"Let me finish Jack. I said two things. Second, I need you to pull some of your mighty general rank around and find a way to let me smuggle Vala out of the medical bay and to my house where I can watch over her and still let her have some Christmas cheer."

"…somehow I think she'd rather stay in the med bay then celebrate with someone she knows to be a scrooge to her."

"I love your confidence in my abilities to be a friend Jack."

"I do my best. You really want your number one irritant to be set loose in your apartment?"

"She's sick. How much trouble can she get into?"

Jack had to strangle back a laugh at Daniel of all people saying that. "If I do this Daniel…I want pictures of the mayhem and you don't get to bitch about how destructive, annoying, ungrateful, flirtatious, spiteful, mischievous, conniving, -"

"I GOT IT JACK."

"Oh, and I get to observe from afar that you finish your little date that never got completed due to her getting whisked away from right under your nose."

"…it wasn't a date."

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that. You might believe it one day. So, do we have an accord?"

"Yes Captain Jack."

"Har har. Remember. These are more guidelines than actual rules and so are subject to change."

"See, that was Barbosa."

"I think I make a more stunning Kiera Knightly don't you?"

"I'm being serious Jack. She's miserable. For all my scrooge-like tendencies, even I would feel like an ass drinking egg-nogg while she sits bed-ridden in a mostly abandoned complex. Your cabin would be a people and stress overload from the partying, but with just me if she gets too tired she can go to bed in peace and quiet."

Jack pretended to think about this before giving out an over-dramatic sigh. "The things I do for you Daniel. I can probably arrange for the Odyssey to beam you both up and to your apartment. Let me hang up and I'll get back to you in about 15. Remember, pictures. If not for me, then for Vala to remember her first sickly Christmas locked in a snowed in house with you."

"Your faith amazes me."

"I call 'em how I seem 'em."

* * *

Daniel walked into the medical bay to find Vala surrounded by a pile of women's magazines, the ones she'd finished discarded on the floor. Vala looked up and regarded the archeologist with vague surprise. Her cold had fogged her up enough that intense concentration on anything was almost impossible.

"Aren't you supposed to be at O'Neill's? I heard there was a huge snowstorm coming through. You won't make it now."

"I decided not to go."

"You really are a kill-joy aren't you? What text are you trying to translate now?" Vala went back to thumbing non-chalantly through her current Vogue magazine, not really interested in her Daniel's answer.

"Well, if you're going to be a sour puss I guess I'll go by myself to my house. The Odyssey will be coming in 30 minutes and they were supposed to beam up 2 people. But you seem to be more interested in being here." Daniel shrugged but knew Vala was going to take his bait. He turned as if to walk out of the medical bay. She hated being cooped up on base more than anything. The sound of her magazine being put down on her bedspread was his cue.

"Wait…what did you say?"

Daniel stopped and turned half way to face her. "Oh nothing. Only got Jack to approve you to leave base and come to my house for the next couple of days to recuperate. Seems like you'd rather be here reading magazines alone though." Oh he had her hook, line, and sinker now.

"No! I'm good! Please get me out of the dreadful place Daniel. The idea of sitting here for two days with no one here and nothing to do is driving me nuts!" She immediately began to neatly collect her magazines into one pile and place them on the bedside table. She swung her legs off the bed and attempted to stand up but was immediately hit by dizzy spell. One of the first things this little off world cold messed with was inner ear function. It was like being drunk with all the inability to walk but none of the fun.

Daniel was immediately beside Vala. He gathered up her magazines from the table then looped an arm around her shoulders to help stabilize her. "Come on drunkard. Let's get you packed."

"God I wish I was just drunk…"

* * *

Watching Vala pack had been a combination of amusing, horrifying, and embarrassing. Even while sick as a dog the woman was determined play the vamp. He had to watch her sift through various lingerie items which he was sure she was making sure he saw them, all while picking out underwear and bras. That affair lasted about 15 minutes until she was done packing. To his surprise though, he saw her pull out a wrapped gift from one of her drawers and place it in her overnight back.

She turned and gave him that cheeky grin she always had when she was plotting something. "I was going to give it to you at Jack's cabin but now I'll just give it to you at your house on Christmas. Well, I'm done packing. Shall we make our way to the briefing room to wait?"

Daniel didn't ask what the gift was, though now his interest was peaked. Thankfully he didn't feel like an ass because he had actually gotten a gift for her for Christmas. What with Teal'c's little explanation of what the holiday was all about there was no way he was going to be able to avoid it.

"We shall." Daniel picked up Vala's bag which was mercifully light considering her normal packing tendencies, then again wrapped his arm around her shoulders so he could steer her straight through the hallways.

After much stumbling on Vala's part through the hallways they made it to the briefing room and sat down on the chairs at the table. Daniel made sure to keep his grip on Vala's bag so it would be beamed up with him. He watched her as she sagged down in the chair in gratefulness. Some light sweat had broken out on her forehead. Another symptom of the cold. Well, two symptoms really. Weakness and a light fever. He'd make sure that he kept a fire going in his fireplace and that she was basically smothered in blankets if he could help it. He didn't want her to get any sicker.

"I'm pissed that none of you got this damn cold. Just letting you know. I'm going to cough on all of them when we get back to the SGC and hope they catch it. Especially Mitchell. He was having way too much fun taunting me on my inability to walk straight." She scowled at the table a little bit before turning to Daniel and giving him a smile. "So, what do you have planned for us at your house?"

"Well, I have a few Christmas movies, and I made sure to get a real pine tree this year once I decided to spring you out of this place. It hasn't been decorated yet though, so you can help with that if you want. Also a lot of people bake cookies for the holidays. We can do that too."

He watched as Vala's smile brightened with each of his suggestions. Inside, he felt himself glow with pride that he could make this woman happy by just suggesting activities to do together. He was also proud that he could actually get her out of this place and make her feel less alone on a holiday when no one should ever be alone on Earth.

He felt the familiar tingle of the Asgard beams and grinned at Vala as she dematerialized at the same time as him. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he knew this whole venture had the potential to become a regular Vala disaster. He was prone to stupidity when it came to the woman, he just prayed that it wouldn't strike on this occasion. He didn't want to spoil her first Christmas. He wanted it to be the standard she set all of her Christmas's to.

When they were beamed back down the first thing Daniel registered is that his dumb ass didn't leave any lights on in his house and it was dark outside. "Dammit…"

Vala stumbled forward after she was beamed down and her shins slammed into his coffee table as she attempted to regain her balance. Daniel very swiftly moved next to her and caught her before she fell over. "Are you a vampire Daniel? It's damn dark in here."

"I know. My mistake. I wasn't thinking about it being dark when I when I left to the SGC today. Here." Daniel walked Vala around the coffee table and sat her down on his couch. He placed her bag next to her. "Stay put. Going to turn on the kitchen light and lamps in this room."

"Daniel dear, I can't walk. Short of crawling I'm not going anywhere." Daniel rolled his eyes in the dark at her humor.

"Yeah yeah." He walked carefully, avoiding where he knew things to be and using the limited night vision he had to gauge where they were. Eventually he made it to the kitchen first and turned on the overhead light. Now able to see into his living room a bit, he came back and turned on two lamps in the room. He was not a huge fan of bright overhead lighting, preferring subdued lamp light instead.

He saw Vala looking around his living room with interest. "It's almost the way I had imagined it. Some small differences. Lot neater than I thought it would be. Your office is usually mess and I thought it would translate here." She laughed as she saw her Daniel shake his head.

"I'm not that messy. Besides, I spend more time at the SGC than I do at home. I'm sure if I actually lived out of my house it'd be a little messier." He moved over to sit next to Vala on the couch. "I have a couple chores I need to get done before we can start on any sort of Christmassy activity. I have to drag the tree inside and also start the fire in the fire place. Power has a tendency to go out in big snow storms and I don't have a generator so it's best I have a fire going constantly just in case. Would you like me to show you to the guest bedroom so you can start unpacking a little?"

Vala nodded her head. "That would be peachy."

Daniel then stood up, collected Vala's bag, then helped her up from her sitting position on the couch. With his arm wrapped around her shoulders they made their way down the hallway where there were four doors. Two on the right, one on the left, and one on the end. All of them were shut. Daniel led Vala to the door on the right and opened it, flipping the light switch as they entered.

In the room was a queen sized, four poster oak bed. It actually had curtains hanging down from it that could be slid shut. The room had a Victorian décor, with a matching armoire and dresser. There was a massive but simple oriental rug on the floor with twisting flowers and vines done in light pastel colors.

"This is the room you'll be staying in. The bathroom is across the hall from your door. The door next to it is the linen closet. You can find towels and extra blankets in there. At the end of the hall is my room. I'd forbid you to go into my room but I know you'd go in there anyways."

Vala gave him a grin but it faded a bit when she saw he was giving her a very serious look. "I'm giving you free access to my house and everything in it. But just like how you have things in your past that you don't discuss, there are things I don't discuss or am not ready to in my past. So if you find something that interests you and you ask me about and I don't answer, don't get angry or upset. It's simply something I don't want to talk about. Do you understand?"

Vala nodded her head. Daniel then broke his serious gaze and smiled.

"Okay then. Happy unpacking and hunting while I go get this tree set up inside and get a fire started."

Vala wandered over to the armoire first and opened it to find a few empty hangers to her surprise. She was afraid that she was going to have to fold most of her clothes up into the dresser. She turned toward the bed and leaned forward over it to grab her bag and drag it toward her. She opened it and began taking everything out, laying them in neat folded piles. She took all her blouses and sweaters that she had brought and hung them up, enjoying the cedar smell that the armoire was putting out. Next she tottered precariously over to the dressers, her hand balancing her on the bed. She transferred her jeans and underthings into the drawers and placed her small amount of jewelry on the top of the dresser.

Grabbing her toiletry bag, she stumbled her way across the hallway and opened the door into the bathroom, her first exploration of Daniel territory on her own.

It was tastefully done in tans and white. The walls were a light golden brown, and there was a huge counter top with two sinks and a large mirror over it. The flooring was cream tile with a tan carpet laying over it. Opposite the sinks was the towel rack with two fluffy white towels hanging off. She glanced to see that Daniel had foregone the normal bathtub and instead had a huge shower area with sliding glass doors. The showerhead was one that came from the ceiling instead of the wall like the normal Tau'ri showerheads she was used to seeing. Next to the counter area was of course the toilet, which never changed from SGC to Sam's house to public restrooms. Vala placed her tooth brush and paste along with her various hair care products on the countertop surface then took her shampoo and conditioner over to the shower and placed them inside. She squeaked when she almost toppled head first into the wall as she bent over.

"You alright Vala?" Daniel heard the squeak of distress coming from the bathroom as he shifted items around in his living room to make space for the small tree he had bought. The damn thing was already shedding needles like crazy on his rug. This is why he normally had the fake plastic tree if he ever set it up for the holidays. None of this shedding nonsense.

"I'm fine darling. Just a little stumble is all. However if you can make the world stop going topsy turvy every 10 seconds I'd be grateful."

Daniel chuckled a bit. He stood back and decided that the little corner of the room next to the fireplace and the bookcase that he had cleared out was suitable for the tree to go up in now. He had made sure that the base was screwed onto the trunk securely before lifting it off the floor and standing it up straight in the corner. After that he knelt down and put the tree skirt on that would hopefully catch a good amount of any sap and needles that decided to drip or fall off respectively. He heard her walk unsteadily down the hallway back into the living room.

He turned to see her smiling up at the tree he had put up. "It's lovely darling. I'm finished unpacking, but I think I'd like to sit down for bit." Walking unsteadily once the wall was no more, Vala carefully made her way back to Daniel's couch where she plopped down unceremoniously. From her new vantage point she watched as Daniel walked out the sliding door to his back yard to his wood pile. It was already starting to snow heavily as he lifted the tarp to grab a few cords of wood. Mentally she drooled as the snow stuck to his short unkempt hair and across his shoulders. Upon reentering his house though, Vala shivered as the wave of cold air hit her. To her delight Daniel kept a throw on his couch and she immediately tossed it around herself and tucked her legs under her.

Not really one to find fires being lit interesting, Vala snagged the remote off the coffee table and turned the TV over the fireplace on and began channel surfing.

As he placed the cords of wood into the fireplace along with newspaper to help start it, Daniel watched Vala out of the corner of his eye. He could already tell that she was getting very tired though he knew she would never admit it. The way her eyes would occasionally drift shut and her grip would loosen on the remote. She also still looked cold though. The throw on the couch was not what he would really call a true blanket. It was more a decoration than anything. He returned his attention to the fire and finally got the wood to catch after a few minutes.

Standing up he saw that Vala was still halfway fighting falling asleep. "Hey Vala, you look really tired. You ready to go to sleep?"

She snapped out of a nod that was leading to a doze and looked at him in a half confused expression. "Hm? Oh, no. I'm fine darling. Wide awake. Though I admit to being a tad cold. This is a horrible excuse for a blanket."

"That's because it wasn't really meant to keep people warm. I'll grab a better blanket." With that Daniel strode down the hallway to the linen closet. While he was there, Vala decided that she might like to lay down a bit. Her dizziness didn't always strike just when she was standing up. It was a good thing she wasn't prone to motion sickness or else she would be even more miserable than she already was, what with her world deciding to start spinning at random times. Grabbing one of the large and cushy pillows on the couch she placed it under her head as she sprawled out on the couch. Seconds later she heard Daniel walk up behind the couch and place something on the back of it. The throw was pulled gently off her body and she gave another shiver of cold until a significantly heavier and thicker blanket was laid over her. She glanced at it and saw it was a huge blue quilt.

Daniel walked back around in front of the couch and sat down next to where her feet were. "It was a blanket that my grandmother had made. Very old. Also very warm." He smiled at Vala while she ran her hand over it and smoothed it out, looking at the stitching. Her shivering had toned down thanks to the slow heat that the fireplace was beginning to put out and the blanket.

"Want to watch a movie until you finally admit to being tired?" He watched an indignant look cross Vala's face at being called out but then she smiled and nodded her head.

"What do you have in mind to watch?" She pulled her knees up to her chest with the blanket in tow, and wrapped her arms around them while looking at Daniel.

"I have a ton of Christmas movies. Counter to many beliefs that I am a scrooge when it comes to holidays, I do enjoy Christmas. Any adult who was raised in the States has to be insane to not like the holiday. I think we'll watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer tonight though. Nothing like Hermes and Yukon Cornelius to brighten your night."

Daniel stood up and walked over to his veritable wall of shelves and pulled out a huge DVD folder. He unzipped it and began leafing through it until he came across the movie he had been talking about. Pulling it out and closing the binder again, he walked over to where the TV hung over the fireplace and pressed a button on the side, causing a tray to pop out. He placed the disc in and gently pushed the tray shut. He walked back over to the couch, placed the binder on the coffee table and sat next to Vala's feet again. With remote in hand, he changed the input on the TV to play the DVD and increased the volume. He smiled as he watched Vala as she watched the TV intensely as the previews started. Call him crazy but he enjoyed being here spending time with Vala.

Because he had sat down while Vala's feet had been perched close to her body, he caught her halfway through the movie looking indecisive about stretching out across the couch again. Being the vamp in a public place was one thing for her, in Daniel's personal territory it was something else altogether. Plus she didn't want to ruin her first Christmas on Earth by pissing her host off. To her surprise, Daniel made her decision for her and grabbed her ankles gently and pulled her legs straight over his lap. He made sure the blanket was still covering her. He gave Vala a small smile. "Don't get too used to this, but I'll pamper you while you're sick." She smiled back at him, then returned to the fascinating movie about a reindeer that was horrendously animated. She snuggled into the blanket and before she knew it, she had passed out.

Daniel had known she was going to fall asleep as soon as she had stretched out. She'd been fighting off the sleep nods when the movie his dull stretches. Grabbing the remote, he turned the TV off then had a personal debate as to doing one of three things. He could leave Vala on the couch to sleep, he could wake her up and lead her down the hallway to her room, or he could pick her up and carry her to her room without disturbing her sleep too much. As much as he loved his couch, it had been the cause of some serious neck pain upon waking up on it. And if he woke her, she would insist that she wasn't tired and that they finish the movie. Leaving one option for Daniel to carry out, though he eyed his narrow hall dubiously. He would be the person to accidently bang her head into the wall while carrying her.

Decision made though, he gently picked up Vala's legs so he could stand up. Placing them back down once he was standing, he made his way down the hall way to Vala's room and pulled the blankets and sheets down so he'd be able to lay her down only once. He made his way back to the living room and bent over, sliding his hands around her shoulders and under her knees. He picked her up slowly, trying not to jostle her around too much. Once she was secure, he walked down the hallway, her warm breath puffing rhythmically against his neck in her sleep. Standing next to her bed, he placed her down gently. She immediately rolled onto her side and mumbled something underneath her breath. Daniel frowned as he pulled her sheets and heavy comforter up to her chin.

He'd forgotten about that little detail. It'd been months since SG-1 had bothered to stay overnight on a planet so he hadn't really been privy to it in a while. He knew Sam knew about Vala's little secret, and they had talked about telling others then decided not to.

Vala had night terrors. She never screamed, but many a night in the field, where she would pitch her tent next to his and away from others, he'd hear her muttering frantically in her sleep. On more than one occasion he'd woken up to her crying or unzipping his tent flap and falling asleep next to him in fear of her sleep demons. He never said anything to her about it, just accepted it. The nights when she would sneak into his tent to sleep next to him didn't even bother him. She'd always be gone before dawn when everyone would wake up.

When he snapped out of his thoughts, he found his hand had strayed out and tucked a loose strand of Vala's hair behind her ear. His body often expressed feelings he knew he had purposefully shoved into the dark recesses of his mind. The subconscious had a funny way of doing that. Sighing to himself he walked out of Vala's room and closed the door until there was just a sliver of light from the hallway leaking in. He meandered into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from his fridge. He wasn't tired yet so he might as well get a small amount of work done before he went to bed. He walked out into the living room and pulled a few old books and a notebook out from his backpack and sat down on the couch to do some translations.

* * *

Vala bolted up in her bed, choking down tears and screams. Yet again, even with Qetesh gone from her body, all the horrible memories she left continued to plague her almost every night. The few times she got any respite from them were when she drank herself to oblivion or those very few nights she snuck into Daniel's tent when they were off world. There was a sort of aura he gave off that no one else seemed to. It soothed away her terrors. Maybe it had to do with the bracelets she'd used on him or even the communication device. Something about being in his presence calmed her fears.

She shivered as she finally felt the cool air pool around her back because of the light sweat on her body. She didn't want to be alone right now. This would be another of those nights where she would swallow her pride and seek out Daniel's company. Damned be the time of night. Keeping the quilt wrapped around her shoulders, she stood up unsteadily and stumbled her way to the door. Mercifully Daniel had left it cracked open so light from the hallway could leak in.

Stepping into the hall and using the wall heavily to guide her down to the living room, Vala had to give a small smile at the sight that greeted her. Only her Daniel would work himself silly even on a holiday. He had passed out on the couch with his notes and books sitting in his lap and next to him on the furniture. The fire had almost died out, with only a few red embers left in testament to its prior existence.

Steadying herself for a second, she then lunged lightly for the back of the couch. Her impact hardly stirred the archeologist from his slumber, causing her to give a sigh of relief. She carefully worked her way around the couch until she sat down quietly next to him. She didn't want to wake him. He looked to peaceful and the worry lines that normally marred his forehead were smoothed away, making him look even more handsome to Vala. His glasses had slipped halfway down the bridge of his nose and she carefully took them off and placed them on the coffee table in front of him. She then began to mark the pages in all the books he had sitting around him and placed them on the coffee table too. The next bit was going to be tricky. If he kept sleeping sitting up, his neck was going to hate him in the morning and then she'd have to deal with a grumpy Daniel.

She took the quilt she had wrapped around her and placed it on the back of the couch for now. Sliding off the couch, she knelt next to him and reached up and placed her hands lightly on his shoulders and began to slowly push him over sideways until he was finally laying on his side on the couch. The only indication he'd given to this disturbance the whole time was a light snore. Vala then struggled and managed to get his legs propped up on the couch also. Once he was laid out on the couch, Vala tugged the quilt off it's back and spread it over Daniel's sleeping form, making sure he was all covered except his head.

She smiled at his sleeping form and then couldn't help herself. She leaned forward pressed a light kiss onto Daniel's forehead. "Sleep well my Daniel."

She crawled along the floor and systematically turned off all the lights in the living room before crawling over to the hallway and down its length. Once she reached her room she suddenly decided that she didn't want to be in bed by herself. But she couldn't very well fit herself on the couch with Daniel either. She eyed his door at the end of the hallway. "Oh why the hell not. He said I had the run of his house."

Mind made up, she made her way to his door and slowly opened it. She gave a cursory glance around, not really interested in exploring at the moment. She was still very tired. She finally spied his own queen size sleigh bed and crawled into it, pulling the covers up to her chin. She pulled one of his pillows close and took in his light scent that covered it. It only took seconds for her to drift off to oblivion, into a sleep that was not haunted by Qe'tesh.

* * *

A/N: Day one Daniel and Vala lock up. This is turning out really good.


	2. Chapter 2

Cabin Fever

* * *

By Onyx-dreams

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own SG-1 or its characters. Nor any other popular reference/song/movie that might have popped up while writing this.

* * *

Vala woke up slowly from one of the deepest sleeps she's had in a while. It was refreshing to not remember if she had had any nightmares whilst also not suffering a horrendous hangover. Daniel really was a drug to her, and this was her proof. Light leaked in from a window next to the bed, allowing Vala a better look at Daniel's room.

It was tastefully done, but like any room where a person does not often reside, it had a detached feeling to it. The living room held more personality than Daniel's room. The floor was wood with a cream area rug. An oak dresser sat next to the bed and there were night stands on either side of the bed. The dresser top held some knick knacks that were obviously from some archeological digs, though none looked like the Egyptian-Goa'uld used artifacts she was used to. What really caught her eye though was on the night stand next to an analog alarm clock. It was a simple framed photograph. It held a picture of a beautiful, graceful woman and Daniel.

So this was Sha're. This was the woman Daniel had given up Earth for and who had been kidnapped and taken for a host. Looking at the woman, Vala suddenly felt very inferior for the first time in her life. She'd known that Daniel had wed once upon a time and that his wife had been taken from him. She'd never known what the woman looked like though. And now that she knew…Vala suddenly felt like, that even though the woman was dead (poor woman to be taken by the goa'uld. Neither she nor Daniel deserved that kind of pain), she would never compare. A candle to be compared to the sun. He looked so happy in the picture too. Daniel was hardly this carefree nowadays.

Vala wiped away a couple of tears that had come out of nowhere. A jumble of emotions had suddenly swelled up upon looking at that picture. Sad acceptance, annoyance, helplessness…but the one emotion she'd thought would pop up, didn't. Jealousy. As inferior to the woman in the picture as she felt, she couldn't harbor any ill will toward her. She had made Daniel happy. And Vala couldn't be mad about that.

Accepting this fact, Vala swung her legs over to the side of the bed and fought off a dizzy spell. "Damnable cold." Glancing around again, Vala saw three doors in this room. One obviously led to the hallway, meaning one was Daniel's closet and the other had the potential to be Daniel's personal bathroom. And boy did she have to go the ladies room.

She placed her feet on the, what she now registered to be, very cold floor and began to make her way slowly to wall containing the two doors not leading to the hallway. To her dismay though, a huge wave of vertigo struck her halfway through her trek to the wall and caused her to fall over onto the ground. She cursed when the vertigo continued even though she was lying down. She quickly curled in on herself due the cold and in hopes that it would help stop the world from moving crazily around her.

* * *

Daniel awoke with start when he heard a loud thud. It took him a couple seconds to register that he was on his couch in his living room covered in the quilt he had put over Vala last night.

Vala! The thud! He quickly threw off the quilt and picked up his glasses sitting on the coffee table. He ran down the hallway. "Vala! Are you okay?" He made to go into Vala's room when he heard a weak reply issue from his room.

"I'm in here darling. Oh please make the room stop spinning…"

He opened the door to his room to find Vala curled up in a tiny ball on his bedroom floor. He immediately knelt down next her. "You okay? I heard you fall from in the living room."

"I'm just a little woozy. Took a tumble while trying to see if one of these doors in your room was a bathroom. And now the world almost refuses to stop spinning. But otherwise I'm just fine."

Daniel sighed a little to himself. "Alright. Let's get you back into bed." He gently began to collect Vala into his arms, then picked her up. "Do you have to go to the bathroom first?"

He felt Vala nod weakly into his shoulder. Her hand had taken up a death grip on his shirt, the material twisted up between her fingers. Her breath came out in uneven pants on his neck. He squeezed her reassuringly with his arms, trying to get her to calm down a bit and breathe evenly. Making his way to his bathroom, he opened the door and walked over near the toilet and gently set Vala back on her feet.

"Call when you're done and I'll make sure you make it back to bed okay?" He carefully got her to let go of his shirt and then walked out, closing the door softly behind him. He felt rather guilty now. Vala had obviously woken up last night from a night terror and had sought out his company only to find him passed out on the couch. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for her to get him to lay down and get his legs up on the piece of furniture with how weak and dizzy she is. So in the end she sought out the next best thing to being in his presence and that was crawling into his bed.

He glanced over at it and was pleased to see that it looked like she hadn't thrashed around at all. She had slept peacefully at least. He finally heard her call quietly from the bathroom and he walked in to see her looking pale and queasy. "You don't look so good. You going to need a trashcan next to the bed?" Vala nodded shallowly as she stepped toward Daniel and hugged him, burying her face into his chest.

Daniel stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around her. "Come on. Off to bed with you." He dipped down and picked her up again, knowing he really didn't have to with the bed just feet away. But Vala looked so miserable he couldn't help himself. Laying her down on the sheets he found that she wouldn't let go of his shirt this time. "Vala. Let go."

"Please stay for a little bit…at least until I fall asleep or feel better." Her eyes were closed tight in an attempt to not look at the room that spun around her. Having Daniel to hold onto made her feel secure and less nauseous. She felt Daniel heave a huge sigh under her hands. To her surprise she heard Daniel's glasses get placed on the night stand and his weight settle next to her on the bed.

He pulled her close so her head was resting on his shoulder then pulled the covers up over them both. "No one gets to know how much you have me wrapped around your pinky finger okay? And when you're not sick, you're free game to make fun of and piss off back." Vala chuckled into his shoulder.

"Whatever darling. Shut up and be my pillow." She snuggled close and to Daniel's surprise was asleep almost instantly. Before he knew it or could do anything about it, he too had drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Daniel slowly drifted back into consciousness feeling most relaxed and at peace. He was also feeling unusually warm on one side of his body. He cracked an eye open to see a huge wild mass of black hair sitting on his shoulder. Remembering that he had laid down to help Vala fall asleep, he made sure to beat back the alarm that had slowly risen in his mind at the idea of a stranger creeping into his bed. With that task done, he smiled down at Vala's sleeping form. She hadn't moved a muscle. Though she did drool a little on his shoulder. He sat up a bit to peer over the space pirate's head to look at the clock on his nightstand. Thankfully he had bought it with numbers big enough that he could even see it without his glasses. It was almost noon.

May as well get the decorations out of the attic for when Vala was awake and feeling better. It took him a few minutes but he finally managed to extract himself from Vala's grasp without waking her. As he looked down at her sleeping face, his traitorous hand once again strayed out to tuck an errant lock of Vala's hair behind her ear. He then grabbed his glasses and placed them on his face. Rechecking the clock his eyes were drawn to the picture of him and Sha're next to it. From the looks of it, Vala had picked it up to look at it. He wasn't sure if he'd ever explained anything about Sha're to Vala. But that was also one of those things he'd told her he wouldn't answer questions about. He wasn't ready to talk about his dead wife to anyone yet. Not even Jack.

Enough of that. Ornaments. Attic. Focus. With a last glance at Vala to make sure she was still resting peacefully, he walked out the door into the hallway.

* * *

Vala woke slowly for the second time that day, this time feeling significantly better. The world didn't spin around at an unbelievable speed, though she felt she might still have some issues walking. She registered the smell of coffee coming through the door that had been left open a crack. And now she was hungry. She climbed eagerly out of bed and waited for the familiar dizzy spell to pass before she made her journey down the hallway wall to Daniel's living room.

He wasn't in the living room, but bunches of cardboard boxes were. She had only made half of her journey though, as her stomach rumbled to remind her that sustenance was high on the list of priorities at the moment. Arriving in the kitchen she caught sight of her host standing at a counter, mug of coffee in hand, and newspaper spread out in front of him. "Mind pouring me a cup Daniel? And what do you have to eat? I'm starving."

Daniel gave a small start of surprise, getting a couple drops of coffee onto the newspaper. "Good lord woman. You're stealthy even while sick and unable to walk in a straight line." He turned and gave her a shit-eating smirk, knowing she wouldn't let the tease slide off.

"Come here. I'll cough on you. See if you laugh about walking after. Now come on man, where's the food? I could eat a hippo." She scowled as she watched Daniel lift his mug to his lips to take a sip of coffee, his eye brow arched over the rim as he peered at her. "I will make you spill hot coffee on your chest and I won't help lick it up and kiss you better as tempting as it may be." She made a half hearted lunge and giggled as Daniel leapt back.

"I give I give. What do you want to eat? I have some cold cuts for sandwiches, some soups…" He laughed putting his mug down. "Also no coffee for you missy. I was given express instructions to keep you away from anything highly caffeinated while sick. How about some hot chocolate? Mother's recipe."

Vala scowled at the idea of no coffee, but she didn't want her abominable cold to get any worse either. "What kind of soups do you have?" She watched her Daniel move to a door in the kitchen, opening it to reveal a decently sized pantry. She walked in carefully behind him to peruse the labels while he rattled off all the different kinds. She then eyed a brand mascot she recognized then snatched the box off the shelf. Kiddy food be damned, it was Daniel who had it in his pantry, not her. "I'll have this instead."

"Mac and cheese huh? That dinosaur drew you to the box didn't it?"

"You don't get to tease me. You're the one who spent the money on it and has it sitting in his pantry. And would your mother's recipe happen to be Swiss Miss?" Vala arched her own eye brow at Daniel daring him to refute her statement. She wasn't born yesterday. She saw the box hiding behind a box of Cheese Nips.

Daniel gave a small laugh. "Swiss Miss is only ONE part of it." He reached a hand out and tweaked Vala's nose before taking the box of mac and cheese out of her hands. He also collected the box of hot chocolate and exited the pantry, closing the door in Vala's face and flipping the light switch off.

"Yes…love you too Daniel…"

"I do my best Vala." He smirked at her as she walked unsteadily out of the pantry once she had reopened the door. He pulled a pot out from under the counter and rummaged around his refrigerator, pulling out the milk he'd need for both the mac and cheese and the hot chocolate and the butter. "You know how to operate the TV. Go finish Rudolf and I'll bring you your food and hot chocolate when it's done. The quilt is still on the couch."

Vala stuck her tongue out at Daniel's back as he was filling a pot with water, then tottered out to the living room. She then noticed that Daniel had also gotten the fire going again and that there was now about two feet of snow outside where there had only been dustings when she had gone to sleep last night. A small amount of flakes continued to drift down from the sky, but wasn't heavy by any means.

She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to see that the movie was just paused from last night. Pressing play, she placed the remote back on the coffee table and leaned back onto the couch, pulling the blanket tight around her form.

About ten minutes later Daniel walked out of the kitchen bearing a bowl of mac and cheese and a plain black mug that was steaming and had small marshmallows floating on the top. Vala smiled. "So marshmallows are the secret ingredient?" She took the bowl he held toward her and let him sit the mug down on the table. He sat next to her with a smug look on his face.

"Nope. Just another part of what makes it different from regular hot chocolate though. When you drink it you'll taste it. Now eat your food. You're quiet when you're eating." Vala huffed to herself but ate her delicious food anyways. Not even smartass Daniel was going to ruin her appetite. She returned to watching the movie with Daniel sitting next to her. Deep in her mind she was telling herself not to get used to this. Even Daniel had warned her that this truce in their constant bickering and fighting was only to last until she was better. Oh if she could be sick forever then.

She was full rather quickly, about a quarter of the bowl remained when she placed it back on the table. Daniel immediately picked it up and began to finish it off. Vala quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Mac and cheese is horrible when reheated in the microwave. Might as well as finish it while it still tastes good." Vala shrugged then went after the mug of still steaming hot chocolate. She brought the rim up to her nose and sniffed it delicately. Smelled like regular old hot chocolate to her. But she took a sip and quickly realized it was a little different than normal.

"Oh my goodness Daniel…what did you put in here? It tastes amazing." She turned to look inquisitively at Daniel to find him smiling at her.

"It wouldn't be a family recipe if I gave it away would it?" He chuckled as he saw her pout a bit. Her pout passed rather quick and she was back to enjoying her mug of Jackson Hot Chocolate. The rest of the movie passed in comfortable silence between them as they watched to the end credits. Daniel then stood up with the empty bowl and Vala's now empty mug and headed to the kitchen to drop them off. When he returned he found Vala shifting restlessly on the couch.

"We have two options of things we can do right now. One, we can decorate the Christmas tree in the corner there. Two, we can try our hand at some sugar cookies and peanut butter cookies. Take your pick."

Vala glanced between the small pine tree in the corner and the entrance to the kitchen. The house was still reasonably cool even though Daniel had the heat running full time. Staying closer to the fire sounded nicer to her at the moment. "Let's decorate Daniel! I've had cookies before but I've never decorated a Christmas tree!" Daniel nodded at her. He walked over to the couch and picked up several of the pillows strewn about it and placed them at the foot of the tree, spreading another blanket he had pulled out from his linen closet on top of them.

He turned and saw Vala's confusion. "Unless you'd rather stand during your dizzy state, I was making a comfortable place for you to sit next to the tree so you can decorate the bottom half." Realization dawned on Vala face and to his surprise, a blush broke out on her face.

"Thank you Daniel. I do hate being this sick and helpless."

"It's okay Vala. Not your fault you got sick." He walked over to stand next to the couch and held out his hands to help her stand up. He then led her slowly over to the tree and let her sit herself down. He watched as goosebumps immediately broke out on her skin from leaving the warmth of the quilt that would now be a hindrance to her decorating if she tossed it on herself. "One second. I'll be right back."

Vala turned to admire the tree and leaned over to look at the quilted tree skirt. It had a panorama of a snowy country side with small stone houses, thrown in were snowmen and horses pulling carriages. She sat back up to feel something hit the back of her head.

"Hey! What the hell did you throw at me Daniel?" She turned to see Daniel smirking as she held up a large oversized sweatshirt. "UCLA…you're college sweatshirt darling? I'm flattered." She pulled it over her head and put her arms into the sleeves. "Were you a fatty in college darling or did you just enjoy huge clothing?"

Daniel rolled his eyes in mild annoyance. "I was not fat. And yes I enjoyed loose clothing. Wasn't like I was out for any tail while I was there."

"My Daniel the booknerd." She flashed Daniel a coquettish smile.

"It's bookworm. And yes I was." He walked over to one of the boxes and opened it, pulling out a few pieces of crumpled newspaper before removing a small, clear plastic box filled with ornaments. He walked over next to Vala and placed the box in her hands. "Putting them up should be self explanatory." He turned back and pulled out a box for himself and began hanging them up helter-skelter. He observed out of the corner of his eye as Vala looked carefully at each before placing them up. Some of his more hideous ones, to his amusement, she politely turned up her nose at before hiding them deep in the boughs of the tree.

They did this in companionable silence for about fifteen minutes, exchanging empty boxes for full ones when they finished. Finally Daniel determined that unless they were going to decorate the back of the tree, they were finished minus one small detail that was going to prove to be a venture in and of itself.

He rummaged a little through the big cardboard box before he pulled out a large plastic box that held the item that would sit atop the tree. He handed the box to Vala and opened it, pulling out a simple but elegant angel tree topper. She smiled at it as she traced her fingers lightly over the cloth wings. "It's beautiful Daniel. But it looks a little big to hang from a bough."

"That's because it's a tree topper. It always goes on last and it sits on the top of the tree." He watched as Vala looked from the tree topper, to the top of the tree, to him with a disbelieving look on her face.

"I'm hardly that tall Daniel. Much less able to stand if I got the inference of your handing this to me correct." She held the angel up to him expecting him to take it from her hands. He just pushed it gently back toward her.

"And if you thought I'd let you do it without my help you really are wonko." He took a couple steps back toward the kitchen. "I'm going to get a chair for you to stand on and I'll steady you while you put it up."

Vala continued to marvel at the tree topper angel until Daniel returned with a stepping ladder and placed it next to where she was sitting and as close to the tree as he could get it without knocking ornaments off. He then held out a hand to help her stand up.

Vala carefully took the first step up on the stool, reassured when she felt Daniel's hands secure around her waist, steadying her before she took the next step up. To her surprise, Daniel took her place on the first step, his chest touching her back in an attempt to give her further support. Thankful for the support because she was plenty woozy still, she saw that she could now reach the top of the tree with relative ease. She leaned forward and stood on her tippy toes, stretching to put the angel on the top, and Daniel's arms wrapped around her waist giving her a more stable thing to lean against. She finally placed it at the top of the tree and leaned back into Daniel's chest as she looked at where she had placed it with pride.

"Does that look a bit crooked to you?" She tilter her head as she observed it sitting at the top of the tree. She felt Daniel's chest rumble with laughter behind her.

"It's fine Vala. You'll never get it to sit evenly. You got it up there and that's what counts." He stepped back off the step stool, but kept his hands on her waist, helping her step off the stool safely. Vala smiled at Daniel then walked over to the couch and sat down while he took the stool back to the kitchen.

"Can you get me another mug of that amazing Jackson hot chocolate? It would be smashing if you did." She leaned over the arm of the couch trying to peek into the kitchen to see if Daniel was doing her wish.

"As you wish Princess. Want me to pop in another movie while you wait?" He walked to the door between the kitchen and the living room, leaning against the doorframe. Vala smiled up at him.

"Of course. You have the movie about the silly little boy who gets left by his family at home? He's blonde." She listened to him laugh a little bit.

"Home Alone huh? Sadly I don't have any of those movies. Never was a fan of Macaulay Culkin. How about Frosty the Snowman instead?" He watched Vala give a mock pout before she nodded her head. She plopped back on the couch enthusiastically, pulling his oversized sweatshirt tighter around her. He walked in and flipped his movie binder open until he found his Frosty DVD. Replacing the Rudolf with the Frosty DVD. Finished he walked back into the kitchen.

Vala picked up the remote and fast forwarded through all the old commercials. So boring seeing all the old crappy movies with bad special effects. Rudolph was almost horrible if not for the fascinating story line and Daniel's obsession with it. Soon enough she saw that Daniel had returned with two mugs in hand. He handed her one then sat next to her with his in hand. "Mmm…I love this stuff. Never could get enough of it." He sat back and relaxed on the couch, his eyes drawn to the cartoon on the screen.

They made it most of the way through the movie before Vala was again fast asleep leaning on Daniel's shoulder. He turned and smiled at her sleeping form, deciding to let her nap for a while and not wanting to move himself. He finished the movie on his own, then decided that it would be best to let Vala rest on her own for a while. He carefully extracted himself and laid Vala out all the way on to the couch.

It was Christmas Eve so he was sure that he would wake her in time to watch The Christmas Story before going to sleep for the night. It was no Christmas unless The Christmas Story was viewed on Christmas Eve. He wandered into the kitchen to do some dishes and he planned on sitting at his dinner table to do some more work until either Vala woke up or it hit 9:30 pm.

* * *

Vala grumbled in discontentment. Something was nudging her shoulder in a most annoying fashion and it wouldn't stop. She reached up a hand and swatted her hardest at whatever it was only to be startled at the sound of her hand hitting flesh and a very loud exclamation of pain.

"Hey! Slapping me is not necessary! Jeez that hurt."

Vala sat up quickly looking at a mildly peeved Daniel who had his hand up rubbing the side of his face. "I'm so sorry! Bad habits die hard and all that darling."

"You're so lucky you're sick or I'd slap you back. That really hurt…" He sat at the end of the couch that Vala was no longer stretched out on. "I don't know if I want to share my Christmas Eve tradition with you anymore." He tried very hard to hide his smirk behind the hand he was using to continue rubbing his cheek. Vala was looking very contrite for her accidental hit on her Daniel.

"I really am sorry…it was a reaction…I couldn't help it. Please Daniel…" Tears sprung into her eyes at the idea of being stuck with an angry Daniel on a holiday he went through the trouble of setting up for her. Of course she had to screw it up. Always her.

"Oh good lord you fruitcake. I'm not mad. Just messing with you. Come here." Her pulled her into a hug to calm her rising tears a bit. "But in all honesty if you weren't sick I would have hit you back. That kind of slap deserves retaliation." He felt Vala give a sharp laugh into his chest followed by a light punch to his side.

"You are an ass Daniel. Really." She pulled back and stuck her tongue out at him, wiping a couple tears that had escaped. "So what are we going to do now that you've woken me up?"

"Just watch one movie then we go to sleep so that the great Santa Claus will come visit in the night."

He heard Vala give a derisive snort. "Right. Santa Claus. Almost as real as your little green men. Or menehunes. Teal'c already made it quite clear that the possibility of a single man visiting millions upon millions of houses in a single night along with consuming copious amounts of milk and cookies is just not possible unless alien technology like a time dilation device were involved along with moving at near impossible speeds between house to house."

Daniel actually laughed pretty hard at this. "You've spent too much time around Teal'c and Teal'c has spent waaaay too much time around Sam. Because that is definitely something Sam would say. Alright. We're going to watch a move called The Christmas Story. It happens to be a common tradition among many house holds to watch this on Christmas Eve. Not every one of them mind you, but a good many. So I will share it with you. Just stay awake for at least this one. Promise me that. I'll pinch you periodically as both revenge and to make sure you stay awake."

Vala huffed. "No faith at all. Really Darling. I think I can stay awake for one silly movie."

"You fell asleep for the last two. Trends show that you will likely fall asleep for this one too unless I keep you awake. Now sit and shut up while I get the movie going fruitcake."

"You know, I looked that up as soon as I could. I don't appreciate being referred to as a dessert that almost no one wants to eat and that gets passed around in order to get rid of it. It's quite disturbing that you would refer to me as such."

"Oh my goodness…it's just a turn of phrase. It'd be like calling you a fruit or loony toons. It means I think you're a nut or crazy in an affectionate way." He switched out the DVDs in the TV then returned to sit next to Vala, immediately pulling her legs over his lap. He pressed play on the remote and made himself comfortable on the couch.

They made it through the entire movie, though Vala had yelped quite a few times when Daniel caught her nodding off. Once Daniel had turned the TV off, he stood and collected a still nodding off Vala in his arms. "Upsy daisy. Off to bed with you. I don't want you having any more nightmares and creeping into bed with me so I'll trade beds with you for the night seeing as you slept reasonably well in mine last night. Alright fruitcake?"

Vala mumbled sleepily into Daniel's shoulder, "I am not a fruitcake."

Daniel chuckled lightly as he walked into his room. Thankfully the covers were still pulled back from when Vala had finally woken up earlier that day. He laid her down and pulled the covers up over her. He could tell she was already fast asleep. He sat for a few seconds and admired her peaceful face before leaning forward and placing a light kiss on her forehead. "You're right. You're not a fruitcake. You're my fruitcake. Merry Christmas Vala." He then walked out the room, giving one last small warm smile at Vala's sleeping form before going to the guest room bed.

* * *

A/N: More chapters coming. And yes it is slow going. But I feel the heavy description is nice when so many stories lack it. It took me a lot of patience to write this and not cheapen it by rushing it. Which I did a little in the end but oh well. The story will get a tad more interesting in the next chapter. I just had to make it through Christmas Eve to Christmas to get to the more intense part. Hope you enjoyed! I love reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

Cabin Fever

By Onyx-dreams

Disclaimer: Still dreaming of the day I could be filthy rich like MGM and have Michael Shanks working for me.

* * *

Vala woke very slowly, having awoken from another amazingly dreamless sleep. Stretching in a catlike fashion, she turned and buried her face happily into the pillow laying next to her, taking in what she now recognized as Daniel's scent. He'd let her sleep in his bed again so she wouldn't have nightmares. She let the warm, happy feeling that produced wash over her in waves. Throughout her life so few people went out of their way to accommodate her, even when she asked them at gunpoint. And here was Daniel doing it without her even asking nicely or offering anything in exchange.

She looked over at the clock next to the picture of Sha're and Daniel and saw that it was ten in the morning. Not too late, but she was surprised that her Daniel had let her sleep in so late on Christmas Day. She rolled out of bed, letting the usual dizzy spell pass before heading out into the hallway.

The first thing she noticed was the heavenly aroma of cinnamon buns…oh those sticky, sweet confections that were absolutely amazing. She walked into the living room to find Daniel sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in one hand and a very old text in the other. He turned toward her when he heard her footsteps.

"Merry Christmas Vala. As you no doubt smell I have cinnamon buns staying warm in the oven and I can make you some more hot chocolate to go with it." He placed the text carefully down on the coffee table before standing and heading to the kitchen. "Sit and make yourself comfortable. Or grab that gift you got me while I get the food and your mug of hot chocolate so we can exchange gifts."

Vala's eyes lit up. "You actually got me something my Daniel? After all that nonsense you put up about how you don't believe in commercial holidays?"

"Vala…you know I'm not that heartless. And I also knew either I could volunteer to buy you something myself or you'd nick my credit card and buy something for yourself and say it was my present to you. I'd rather get you something myself. Because then at least it's a surprise to you."

Vala huffed. "So little faith in me Daniel darling. I'd never go and treat myself to a whole holiday on your credit card." She waited and sure enough she heard the sarcastic bark of laughter leave Daniel's mouth.

"Right Vala. Go get the gift. Goodness you're a handful sometimes."

Vala bit back a giggle but got up and wandered to the room Daniel had loaned her. She sifted through one of her drawers and pulled out the box that Daniel had spotted. She then walked back to the living room to find Daniel sitting with a wrapped box in his hands and two plates with cinnamon buns sitting on the coffee table. Vala smiled at him and sat next to him on the couch.

They handed each other their gifts. Daniel then placed his on his lap and sat and watched Vala.

"You want me to open mine first darling?" The painfully obvious nervous nod Daniel gave told her he wanted her to open hers first. His nervousness suddenly poured over into her as she carefully pulled the wrapping paper apart. In it was a plain, unmarked jewelry box with a note on top. She pulled the note off and opened it, reading through Daniel's neat handwriting:

_Dearest Vala,_

_It is hard to place in words what the past few years have been like, and I'm the one everyone turns to in the SGC to do all the talking. So you must understand how hard it is that I have to write it down on a sheet of paper. The reason I told you I wouldn't answer certain questions is because you scare me. But inside this box, this tiny box, I'm giving you my ultimate trust and what I understand to be your ultimate treasure. I'm just hoping you won't make off with it and leave me broken again. Because you have done something that I thought no one would be able to do after Sha're died: you healed me. You made me laugh again, you make me look forward to each day, and even if you drive me absolutely 'wonko' seeing you smile usually makes it automatically better. So please, when you open your gift, understand what I'm offering. It's not just what's in the box, it's more than what is in the box. It's me. It's all of me, heart and soul. I love you. Please don't take that for granted._

_Love,_

_Your Daniel_

Tears of happiness were coursing down Vala's face as she finally reached Daniel's confession of love. She couldn't even look at him right now, which was distressing him a little. Her shaking hand slowly rose and lifted the lid off the box sitting in her lap. Inside of it…was a key. A house key… Stifling a sob, Vala reached out and pulled Daniel in to give him a huge hug. She began to nod emphatically into his shoulder. Feeling his arms wrap tightly around her as he felt her nods of yes, Vala laughed a little into his chest. "I love you too Daniel. I'm just mad it's taken you this long to figure out that I would never willingly hurt you in such a way. I still want to physically beat the crap out of you sometimes though. Don't hold that too much against me."

"Vala, fruitcake, sentiment returned." He placed a kiss on the top of her head, his voice shuddering at how much he put on the line to confess to her. It had also taken a lot of arguing and tugging on Jack's authority to get authorization for Vala to live off base and for him to be allowed to have a relationship with her. He wanted it to be open. He didn't want to have a relationship with Vala in the shadows. You didn't hide something like Vala. Not because you couldn't…but because why would you ever want to? She was vivacious, beautiful, full of spunk. She was something you wanted to show off. And he'd managed to pull it off.

Vala sat back a bit and pulled Daniel into a soft kiss before giving a small giggle. "You've made my gift look all silly and stupid. But let me tell you, it took a lot to get my hands on. And a lot of sifting through my memories of while I was the host of Qe'tesh. The only reason I even realized what it was that had been in her possession is because of your teachings of Earth. And although no one would ever believe that you had them, I got them for you. When the world is ready for new technology, then they will believe you. But until then, they're all yours to study and take notes on." She saw Daniel give her a strange look and then the box she had handed him. She then saw a child like look enter Daniel's eyes as he registered the fact that Vala was essentially offering him a piece of forgotten Earth history. Not alien history, but EARTH history.

Unlike Vala's meticulously taken apart wrapping paper, the wrapping paper from Daniel's gift ended up in several pieces that wound up scattered around the newly formed couple and on the floor next to the couch. Inside the box that was presented after shredding the paper off, was a goa'uld information tablet with page turning stone included. The 'page one' of all the information held a title that left him speechless. "Qe'tesh…she…she saved them…but how?"

"Darling, the reality is that Qe'tesh did not save them. She stole them from Chronos. For some reason he had a serious attachment to them, so Qe'tesh decided that she wanted them for herself. As host, I didn't realize their importance until you taught me about how the library had many fires and only a few select scrolls that hadn't been there at the time had survived."

She laughed a little as she noticed how her Daniel had already tuned her out and was scanning quickly over the goa'uld words appearing on the small screen. "The scrolls of Alexandria…"

Vala reached out and gently grasped Daniel's chin and turned his face up to look at her. "It's Christmas Day darling. I'm still here. You'll have plenty of time to play with your new toy later." She drew close and snuggled close to him, suddenly understanding why he had been letting her invade his personal space a lot more than usual since he'd brought her to his home. She'd thought it was just her being sick. But in reality it was because he had this little ace up his sleeve. Her Daniel really could be, in the words of Gollum who was in some movie Muscles liked a lot, 'tricksy.'

As Daniel placed the tablet down on his coffee table, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her even closer. He glanced outside of his sliding glass door to find that snow was falling heavily to the ground. He always enjoyed a good snowy Christmas. Too bad Vala was sick, otherwise they might be making snowmen or having a snowball fight or even sledding. But he glanced down at his space pirate and quickly decided that he liked nothing more than having her sit in the warmth in front of a blazing fire enjoying each other's company. He suddenly remembered that Jack had wanted a couple of pictures. And though Daniel wasn't one to snap photos of anything other than ancient ruins, he felt that this was an occasion he wanted on film and to prove to his damned friend that nothing was being destroyed or mutilated while Vala visited.

He pressed a kiss onto Vala's head then stood up. "Stay here. Getting the camera so I can give Jack proof that you haven't destroyed my house yet." He heard a strangled sound come from Vala.

"That little grey haired rat thought I would destroy my Daniel's home? Ohhh…I'm going to have Sam give him an earful."

Daniel chuckled as he returned with a small digital camera. Sitting back down next to Vala, he turned it on and set the flash. He then pulled Vala close, his cheek resting against hers and snapped a picture. Then for the hell of it and following the sudden urge, he turned and kissed Vala deeply, also snapping a picture of which Vala didn't even register it. She was too lost in the tumult of emotions rolling over her. Daniel was finally hers. Years of pining and desire and unspoken love. Kissing him felt so natural, like she'd spent a lifetime already doing it. Which was odd…but thinking back to why Teal'c went from young to middle age during the Time-Dilation Years, maybe it wasn't so odd… Now she had to pester Muscles for a while on what REALLY happened…

Daniel had quickly forgotten about his digital camera and was soon just as lost in the kiss as Vala was. How could being with this woman feel so right? So perfect?

They finally broke for air and Vala, in very un-Vala like fashion, buried her face into his chest in mild embarrassment and total happiness. Embarrassed that Daniel could make her feel like a swooning teenager all over again. Total happiness for the very same thing.

"Daniel darling, this is the best Christmas ever. Thank you for finally trusting me. I will do my best to never let you down ever again. You've done so much for me and I've done so little for you except bring you trouble."

Daniel gently rubbed Vala's back reassuringly, before gently laying down on his side on the couch and gently pulling Vala down to lay next to him. "You've done more than you know Vala. I never thought I would be fixed after losing Sha're. I thought I'd live the rest of my life alone with nothing but books and Ancient writing as my companions. But here I am, happy again, smiling and laughing again, not alone anymore. And here you are. You fixed me. Goodness knows you drive me nuts sometimes, but those times are worth just having you near."

Vala sighed happily into his chest and was soon fast asleep. Daniel chuckled. Lazy woman. He ran his fingers through her hair while she breathed softly, watching the fire in the fire place slowly die down. He was highly content at this moment. He gave into the sleepiness that Vala seemed to be exuding. He placed a kiss on her forehead and then let his eyes drift closed.

* * *

Daniel woke up shivering. His first realization was that it was dark in the room. The next was that Vala was also trembling violently next to him, whimpers leaving her. It was so cold. Daniel stood up and grabbed the blanket on the back of the couch and tossed it on top of Vala. It was almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit in the room and Vala was still sick. He couldn't leave her for long. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and lit the room to look around. No electronics were on at all. The power had gone out. Turning towards the sliding glass door he knew why. The snow was coming down in a white out. Where the snow had only been a foot deep before, it was now three quarters the way up the glass door.

This meant he wasn't driving Vala back to the SGC where he knew there were generators to keep her warm. His best hope was to get a hold of the SGC and get the Odyssey to deliver them there. He brought the cell phone up to his face and felt his stomach drop. Cell reception was non-existent. The storm winds must have taken out the local tower.

He quickly hurried to his only corded phone in his house which was in the kitchen. Pulling it off the hook and brought it up to his ear to hear that dreaded tone of silence. One of the lines was out too. And it only felt like it was getting colder. They were going to have to find a way to keep Vala warm until the phones came back online. First things first, Vala needed more blankets. He ran to the hall closet and pulled out every heavy blanket he could find. He ran back into the living room and began to tuck the space pirate under layers of blankets, hoping that it would be enough for now.

He leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead and felt dread enter his stomach as he heard her muttering frantically, fearfully. She was lost in one of her nightmares. He didn't want to leave her but he needed to get the fire going again in the fire place. Finding some boots, snow pants, jacket and the like, Daniel fought his way out to the wood pile. Thankfully most of the wood was still dry. He dragged as many armfuls as he could back into the living room. By the light of his cell phone he soon had a fire going in the fire place again, as big as could fit. He then walked back to Vala, who now had sweat popping out on her brow and it appeared she was now feverish.

He needed to get her closer to the fire. Moving the coffee table out of the way, he laid down the comforters from both his room and the guest room on the floor. Facing Vala again, he gently peeled away the blankets he had piled on top of her then gently carried her murmuring form over to the blankets on the floor, laying her gently down.

"Of all the times to get a fever you crazy woman, you get one now. Nothing is ever easy with you is it?" He replaced a smaller number of blankets back on top of her, then went to find a battery powered lamp he knew he had hidden somewhere in his house. When he returned, he was not happy to see that Vala had kicked off her covers. Her fever made her feel hotter than she really was and her night terrors were causing her to thrash about on top of it.

He was going to have to sleep next to her to give her some extra body heat and to also make sure she didn't toss of her covers. Pulling the covers back, he laid down next to her, making sure she was between the fire and him. His heart twisted a bit as he heard her let loose a few whimpers along with a few incoherent sentences that had the words 'Qetesh' and 'please' and 'no' thrown in.

He pulled her as close to him as was physically possible, running his fingers through her hair and attempting to whisper to her to calm her down. Normally this worked on the worst of her night terrors, but tonight they stayed stubbornly in her mind. A small sob escaped her, making Daniel feel helpless. He wanted to cleanse her of Qetesh's vile memories. This woman had been subject to the worst kind of rape imaginable, the rape of her mind. Not to mention all the times Qetesh had used her host's body in the worst of ways. And her host, still captive in her own mind, had to watch everything, feel everything. Just because Vala had not had control of her own body, didn't mean she couldn't feel everything that was going on.

Vala had never said this…but her mumblings often became coherent. "Shhh…Vala…I'm here…it's okay. It's only a bad dream."

* * *

_Vala sat and watched…watched for the years that she had been host to Qetesh. And unlike other goa'uld symbiotes, Quetesh took perverse pleasure in ensuring her host felt everything that happened to her, saw everything that happened._

_This time it was while Qetesh was attempting a power play on Sokar. Qetesh had been flirting with Sokar for a while, buttering up the self posed Satan in the way only Qetesh could. Vala watched in horror as the pale man with sharp nails stripped down to nothing, and felt as he bit and dug his nails into her body. Of course Qetesh loved it, but it was excruciating for Vala. She felt sick as she watched and felt Sokar take her numerous times, never able to hear Vala begging for him to stop, crying for him to just take her life as most goa'ulds are wont to do. And Vala couldn't even look away, couldn't close her eyes. She couldn't even vomit from how sick she felt over the desecration of her body._

'_Aw, is the poor little human ready to give up already? We've only just begun. We must still try to bring Ares and Heru-ur under our seductive spell. You have the body that so few can resist. Unlike that bitch Hathor who has to use her pheromones to bring others under her command. We must be rid of her. She is the only major threat we face as we cannot seduce another female.'_

_Vala's only response was a whimper. She did not want to be taken any more. Goa'ulds had such horrible tastes in sexual escapades. Most involved pain or humiliation. Humiliation was not on the table, but pain was acceptable for Qetesh. Not a single person who Qetesh seduced was ever gentle. On more than one occasion, Qetesh let the bleeding linger just so her host could suffer in her own mind._

"_Please…kill me…find another host…you win, you've broken me…"_

'_It's not that simple. I'm nowhere near done with you yet. You can still feel the pain. You must have how worthless you really are engrained in you. For you are worthless, your body is worthless. It is mine to use and abuse. And I will use it until I break it or until a more attractive host crosses our path. Then I will kill you and move on. But only then would I kill you. For you are human and undeserving of mercy.'_

_Vala's nightmare then flashed ahead to where she had to watch as Qetesh slaughtered hundreds of children. Children who had done nothing. Who's parents had done nothing. And as Qetesh felt Vala's horror over the deaths of the young innocents, she felt Qetesh's sudden glee. 'I know what I will do as a final act should I ever abandon you for another host. I will not kill you…instead, I will leave you barren. You will never have children.'_

_Vala's nightmare skipped ahead yet again, though this was for once not one involved with Qetesh. This was when her and Daniel had been transported to the Ori galaxy. Where Vala had actually gotten the closest to her Daniel than she ever had before. They got to pretend to play the happy couple, which she was more than happy to do. But then she sat and watched as the flames drew close to her, licking at her clothing and skin. And rather than feeling awful for herself, she felt for Daniel. For he had to watch her burn alive, watch the woman who had bound him to her with the goa'uld bracelets._

_She thought even then, even with all his griping about her, that he loved her even then. She could see it in his eyes as he struggled to get to her, to free her before the flames consumed her. The helplessness in them killed her. She didn't want to hurt him. That was the last thing she ever wanted to do to him._

_Nightmare skipping ahead again, Vala sat and watched as her daughter that was never supposed to be died right before her eyes. Orici or not. That girl had been born of her body. That girl was her child, the child who Qetesh had promised would never be right before she was extracted by the Tok'ra. There was a reason she had been so attached to that girl, though Vala had never told a soul why. Only Adria had known and that was because Adria could read her mind. And that might be why Adria was so careful about her mother even till the end._

_No mother, not even the mother of the evil Orici, would wish their miracle child dead. It had torn Vala to pieces when Adria was gone. She'd never let on about it though. Mourning was only done in her room where no one could see. Not even Daniel was allowed in during that period._

* * *

Daniel could start to pick up the track that Vala's nightmares were going. And his heart constricted as he heard Vala's mumbles about Adria. About losing her child. He had to hold Vala's arms to her side as she began to thrash about. The blankets needed to stay on so her fever could break, meaning she could escape her nightmares faster. As much as Vala's nightmares tortured her, they were also torturing him. Stories of the horrible things that had happened to her snuck out in her sleep like horror stories to Daniel.

No human being should be subjected to some of the things he had heard in her mumblings. And this was why Sam could no longer take being a tent mate with Vala. She passed that duty on to Daniel. Before Sam had stopped, Daniel could often catch the blonde leaving the tent in tears over what she heard. Not to mention that Sam's presence didn't help chase away the nightmares. Only Daniel's did. But on this Christmas night, it appeared Vala's feverish mind would not allow even Daniel's presence to chase away the demons.

"Please Vala. I'm here. Sense me. Don't let all the bad things that happened to you in." He knew it seemed rather inane to talk to a person who was sleeping, but he needed soothing now just as much as Vala did. He felt so useless that this was the only thing he could do to get rid of that feeling. "Remember when I took you to your first movie at a movie theatre off base? We got popcorn and soda and I even let you talk me into buying you two bags of M&Ms. We saw the movie The Proposal which had taken you every ounce of persuasive power you had to convince me, plus some black mail. Or remember the first birthday party the team had thrown for you. All the ridiculous pink decorations with the stupid pink unicorn piñata…you even made me wear a damn tiara for the whole party because it was one of your 'birthday' wishes…"

He whispered numerous small happy memories into Vala's ear for almost an hour and a half, attempting to get her to calm down. By the end of that hour and a half, he felt Vala's temperature finally begin to drop. Her fever had finally broken which meant her nightmares would finally start to calm down.

So many things that he had had questions about had slipped through her lips unknowingly while she slept. So many of her insecurities and personal fears that she never told anyone about. It was like he was her keeper of secrets. Only she didn't know about it. He never told her about what he overheard all those nights in the field. He just made sure he was there when she needed him.

Some of the things he had heard tonight though…he couldn't let them just lie. She needed to talk openly before everything consumed her. There was no way she wasn't living with some form of deep emotional depression. And that scared him. He didn't want to lose her to it. Though her conscious mind seemed well enough, her subconscious made it abundantly clear that there were some things that were not okay.

She was finally beginning to calm down, her murmuring fading away along with the fearful, strained look on her face. He loosened his grip a bit, letting her roll over so she was facing him. She tossed a leg over his hip and buried her face into his chest. He caught her mumbling his name before she finally quieted down.

He didn't want to let go of her now. He knew he should be doing everything he could to get a hold of the SGC, but after almost two hours of listening to her mumbled nightmares, he just couldn't pull away from her right now. Instead, he put a few extra logs on the fire before curling up next to her and falling asleep with her.

* * *

Jack couldn't believe his eyes. Of all the things he expected to happen from Vala staying at Danny's house, this was not one of them. Because before him, Danny-boy was sound asleep, wrapped around a very pale, sleeping Vala. As in, suddenly very sick Vala. When he hadn't been able to reach Daniel's cell Christmas night to wish him and Vala a merry Christmas, he knew something was amiss.

Being one of the archeologist's few friends afforded him the right of always having his calls answered when he knew Daniel to not be busy. Christmas night was one such time. Not to mention watching the weather forecast and how the area around Cheyenne Mountain had gotten a huge blizzard. As soon as he was able to, the day after Christmas, he had gotten the Odyssey to beam him up along with Cam from his cottage down to Daniel's house.

In Danny-boy's defense, if it got this cold, body heat was the best source of heat to stay alive. But still.

He heard Cam whistle softly next to him. "Oh he's never going to hear the end of this."

Jack laughed a bit as he brought his cell phone's camera to bear on the two figures on the floor. "Oh no he won't. Not if I have anything to say about it." He quickly snapped the picture before leaning down. He gently shook Daniel's shoulder.

"Daniel…"

Even in sleep Daniel frowned at the voice he knew to be Jack's. "Jack…"

"Morning sunshine. I see your house is still in one piece."

"Go away. Your irritating morning personality is not what I want right now…"

"Well, what you want isn't exactly on the table right now. From what I can see, Vala needs to be heading straight to the SGC infirmary. And this is for both yours and my sakes because Dr. Lam will skin us alive if she gets any sicker."

Daniel suddenly woke up real fast as he looked down at Vala. Normally she could wake up at the drop of a pin, but she was definitely very much still asleep, and very pale. "Oh no…she got worse while I was sleeping." He was instantly standing, wrapping Vala up in blankets.

He blinked when he turned around to see that Cam was there also. "Dammit Jack, you just can't resist can you?"

"I had to have confirmation. Of course this now means that I owe Sam $100. I can't believe Vala would be able to sit still in your house. Need help?"

"No Jack. I've got her. I'll be the one to get the ass chewing from Dr. Lam." Daniel gently lifted Vala in his arms, holding her like she would break if he wasn't too careful. He didn't notice Jack's and Cam's eyebrows lifting in disbelief.

Jack brought his communicator up to his mouth. "Four to beam up Odyssey."

"Roger General O'neill. Beaming now."

Oh Jack was going to have a field day now that he had an inkling of what may have happened over the Christmas break.

* * *

Vala groaned. She felt like someone had taken her body and put it through a wringer. She literally ached everywhere. "Someone get the ID number on that Al'quesh?"

Struggling to sit up, she felt a hand gently push her back down into her pillows. "Easy there Princess. The archeologist would tear my ass a new one on top of the good doctor if you got up and moving before you had gotten a clean bill of health."

"Cam?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out. Forced Daniel to go to his room with the promise that I'd sit and wait for you to wake up myself. So, you must spill the beans on why we found you two snuggled up next to the fireplace. Because I'm sure your tale, though more spiced up, might be closer to the real truth."

Vala huffed. "I do not exaggerate that much!" Cam's eyebrow notched up and he gave Vala his 'don't bull shit me' look. Rolling her eyes she responded with, "Okay maybe I stretch the truth a little bit. But my stories would be so boring if I didn't give them a little touch me up!"

"So…Vala…I hear that now that you've gone through the worst of your cold that you can now walk in a straight line…" Laughing, he ducked from the pillow and the fist Vala threw at him.

"If I was still sick, I'd cough on you! You can be such a turd sometimes Cam! I'm betting that you're supposed to go either get Dr. Lam or my Daniel. Oh…speak of the devil…"

Cam whirled around to find a mildly peeved Caroline Lam tapping her foot. "Oh…hi…Doc. I was um…just coming to get you to tell you Vala was awake." He gave her one of his cheesy, 'I'm adorable, love me' smiles only to have it fade away. Dr. Lam was not to be swayed. "Oh boy. I'm in trouble aren't I?"

Dr. Lam nodded her head.

"In that case I'll go make myself scarce and find Dr. Jackson before you decide to bump up my yearly physical again." With that, Cam scooted out of the infirmary to get the archeologist.

Dr. Lam moved to sit next to Vala on her infirmary bed. "You feeling okay now Vala? From what Dr. Jackson said after I finished berating him, you got real sick while you were at his house. Had a huge fever that made you unconscious and then you suffered some hypothermia. You've been out for almost two days now. Dr. Jackson has been beside himself more than usual. It took Cam threatening to have him or you removed from SG-1 permanently to get him to go get some sleep." A smile grew on Carolyn's face. "Something happened to make him that much of a worry wart. You have to spill now."

Vala grinned at her friend. "You won't believe it. Not coming from me anyways. You see, my Christmas present from Daniel was-"

"I invited her to move in with me. With all the approvals needed from higher up."

Daniel walked in and smiled at Vala who was beaming up at him from her hospital bed. Dr. Lam looked visibly shocked as she shifted her vision from space pirate to archeologist. This was new…

Sitting on the edge of Vala's hospital bed, he leaned forward and gave Vala a kiss. "Hope you're feeling better. You scared the hell out of me when Jack woke me up. I even went through the good doctor's lecture on being careless with sick people."

Vala giggled and looked over at Dr. Lam who was gazing in open shock. "Well it's true dear. Being locked in Daniel's house was the best thing that ever happened to me!"

* * *

A/N: And finished! I liked it. You don't have to! Haha. Review please!


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